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This book article was originally published as a special issue of International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. doi:10.1080/13670050.2016.1184615 Bilingual preschool education is under researched compared with bilingual school education. There is also a lack of research on bilingual preschool teachers’ agency and how they negotiate between two languages in the classroom. We examined the language practices of five bilingual preschool teachers working within three different socio-linguistic settings, in Finland (Finnish-Swedish and Russian-Finnish contexts), and Israel (an Arabic-Hebrew context) and interviewed the teachers about their use of languages in the classroom. We found that in each context the teachers reported modifications to an initial bilingual education model over time: from a strict separation of languages, to flexible bilingual practices. A thematic analysis of the contents of the teacher reflections as they emerged through interviews revealed five shared categories: (a) the flexible use of two languages; (b) responsible code-switching; (c) contextual and linguistic supports; (d) adjustments for individual children; and (e) role-modelling. Despite the different settings and sociolinguistic conditions, the similarities in teachers’ practices and the rationale they gave for applying flexible bilingual practices were significant. The shared practices across contexts may have important implications for bilingual education. peerReviewed

Russian ideology about language has an imprint on both the previous experience of Russian-speaking immigrants and stereotypes among the metropolitan Russian community. When the two meet, loaded as they are by general Russian and the new assimilated views, the confl icting interactions refl ect the search for linguistic truth: can the Russian language remain Russian without being spoken in Russia? This study attempts to establish how immigrants with Russian as their dominant language lose some of the grammatical and lexical components of their mother tongue under the infl uence of the Finnish environment; how they position themselves in the domain of language use, and the perception of this group’s linguistic abilities among native speakers of Russian living in Russia. The degree of language attrition has been documented in oral and written discourses: the self-defi nition of bilingual speakers is based on data acquired through free and structured oral interviews and via written questionnaires.

On the territories adjacent to the core Russia, the Russian language has had for centuries an established position as a language of culture, trade, war, statehood, and education. The theoretical framework of the study reflects the field of cross-cultural communication, with special reference to Finnish-Russian intercultural encounters. There is a certain set of prejudices connected with Russia that date back centuries and are periodically revived. Recent events have reinforced some of them, and have enhanced the demand for experts on Russia and everything connected with it. The language is undoubtedly considered the key to understanding what is happening with Finland’s Eastern neighbour. The article aims to present the current discussions in the media, their meanings and functions.

The languages of Russia are a valuable resource of knowledge about the life of the indigenous peoples and a challenge for all the specialists in linguistic typology. As is widely known, they are undergoing the process of loss, mainly because the quantity of speakers diminishes and the quality of their speech deteriorates. The article discusses the situation of Udmurt and Chuvash in education on the basis of legal texts, statistical data, interviews to parents, teachers and school officials and schoolchildren pooling. Although Udmurt and Chuvash are being taught as a subject in many schools where the language of instruction is Russian, the results are not satisfying. This problem, being psychological in its nature, lies in attitudes prevalent in society and in the schools. The minority languages are practiced in a small number of situations, and a small number of students really care about elaboration of their own ways of belonging, because they experience that the native language is not prestigious. At the same time, to use some words and to know some traditions is respectful, especially when someone visits abroad and is welcomed much better as a representative of a minority than as a Russian. Although bilingualism among the citizens of Russia is quite common, it was studied poorly. A ‘new generation’ of didactic materials is needed., InterDisciplines. Journal of History and Sociology, Vol 5, No 2 (2014): Still an Issue? Approaching Post-Socialist and Post-Authoritarian Education

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